Close Your Eyes
by rolliepollie44
Summary: he isn't who he used to be, yet she remains intrigued.  Balthier/Fran ONESHOT


**disclaimer: i don't own ff12.**

Balthier's aged figure sits up in bed and he glances out the small window of the tiny home he had moved into once upon a time. The city in ruins mocks him through wrinkles and nightmares that come at him constantly. He grunts and scans the end table with his thick wrinkled fingers. His skin is trying to detect the glasses which he had gotten years ago- he no longer could see without them and sometimes he liked that. Despite his hearing wasn't what it used to be he could still detect his love moving about in her high shoes tending to the housework that Balthier could no longer take care of.

His sock clad feet hit the ground and it takes him a few seconds to summon up the strength to get out of bed. A daily task that for most was agonizing but for Balthier it was near impossible. A disease had floated back into his home city and had infected him as well as the rest of the people he hung around. Many of them had passed or were incapable of even moving an inch in there bed but not Balthier; he planned to stay strong until the bitter end.

"Fran dear, fetch me the paper and a cup of something hot would you?" He ran his hand gently across her back sending a shiver up the vera's back.

"Of course." She gingerly took his arm and helped him to his chair.

She had never felt so strongly for a hume as she did for Balthier. He had grown to be the only person that she felt she could do anything with; the two of them **were** invincible and she dreaded the thought of having to do without him for many years to come. He sat down in a worn chair and stretched his arms down the ripped fabric taking in every inch of fabric and breathing in the dusty air. A war had erupted and lasted many years; nobody wanted to fix the towns up fearing that it could happen all over again. They weren't to blame; ambition levels decreased termendously after the war had finally ended and people were either deceased or worn out entirely (including Balthier).

Fran strokes his hair and kisses his forehead with her smooth lips. Everytime she sees the man she wishes to tear up but he knows her as a strong leading lady, not just another pouty lovestruck female and that's how she wishes for him to remember her. They barely speak now because neither of them want to face what's going to occur in the next few weeks but after being together so long they can read each others thoughts perfectly.

"The paper?" Balthier stretches his neck to glimpse at the vera's face.

She walks away for a split second and returns quickly with rolled up sheets of paper, "I was reading it earlier. I apologize."

He shakes his head and shifts his peripherals away from the clock not even wanting to know what time it is, "My drink?" He questions with a wink.

Fran rolls her sun speckled eyes and smirks just the tiniest bit as she goes to fetch him his desired beverage, "How are you feeling?" She questions from inside the kitchen, keeping her eyes glued through the open door at the hume.

"Oh, me?" Balthier questions lamely trying to avoid answering, "Well.. my knees are weak, my eyes are bad, my feet are sore, but i'm still awake." He turns and smiles.

Fran knows he won't be up for long, just walking from the bedroom to the small living area was like walking a thousand miles for him and she remained proud that he could still do even that. She grabs a chipped mug and pours the warm water into it, slowly stirring around the bag of herbs that were supposed to stimulate a long and healthy life. Her footsteps echo through the silent house and meet up with Balthier's deep and heavy breathing. She sets the cup down next to him and watches his eyes flutter shut. His hair is thick but it's color has lightened dramatically; he still looks as handsome as he did when she had first laid eyes on him.

His wrinkled hands take her long, thin ones and intertwine. He kisses both her right and left side and looks up with pure exhaustion on his face. She sighs and bites her bottom lip to stop it from making any movement, "Close your eyes."

On cue his eyes fall shut and his heavy breathing turns into light into nothing. She senses yet she does not react and she hurts yet she does not wish to heal. She remembers her final words in silence. Things were better left unsaid but even with closed eyes and a closed heart, he still manages to intertwine himself with every thought that she thinks.

**authors note: this is for you zesty! :) i hope you and everyone else who reads this enjoys it and reviews it! :)**


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